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I went through the Patriots Titans game all-22 film from NFL Rewind. I only looked for big pass plays (over ten yards). I looked at both offense and defense. I would have done more, but I am on hotel wireless. Can you say "buffering?"

Keep in mind my comments are only those plays I selected where there was a completion over ten yards by either team:

Our defense didn't use a lot of pre-snap movement. Our safeties stayed in a two deep zone. Our coverage was good on all these long completions. Our safeties seemed to be in position. Takling was immediate and sound. This was not the 2011 defensive back field.

Our big pass plays came primarily on play action. Our receivers get open. On these plays Brady could have thrown to more than one receiver.

I am fed up with the hotel wireless. I would love to spend more time on this when I have a better connection.

1. Rob Gronkowski is incredibly quick for a guy his size,
2. Chandler Jones is explosive often beating Roos to the spot,
3. Jermaine Cunningham looked explosive and created problems, &
4. Stevan Ridley has field quickness.

I came away from the tape thinking the Patriots have some legitimate speed on Defense. What was striking to me is the amount of detail you can observe from the All 22 footage compared to the broadcast footage. It's night and day.

I saw it today too. What I saw from Ridley was great burst through the hole and great balance after the initial hit. This was a case of not just good O line play but also Ridley had at least for this game, a way of turning a 4 yard gain into a 6 or 7 yard one because he keeps his feet under him even after the initial hit.

Hernandez looked like a Maxi version of Welker. He truly is very shifty and breaks arm tackles very well with a combination of strength and quickness. At least for one game, I can understand why WW's role was diminished a bit because of Hernandez's play. He gets open not just with quickness but just outright size which he uses to block out the DB and gives TB a lane to throw to.

LB's - really really fast bunch especially around the line. I really liked how they pretty much all stayed home and used their quickness to plug holes and shut down the run game. Great bunch of tacklers.

Solder got beat twice, one of which was the sack of Wimbley. The other resulted in an incomplete pass to Ridley when the Titans DE was hovering right near TB's feet. Brady seemed to get a little bit of Happy Feet (understandably) and then tried a jump pass to Ridley which ended up in the ground.

There was lots more but the overall impression I got was how fast these NFL guys cover the field. One second you think a guy is open and then bang he's tackled. The All 22 is really pretty eye opening.

And lastly, my favorite play though I hope he doesn't have to do that too often, but Gostkowski took out a Titan's returner with a massive shoulder to shoulder hit. The kicker can run as well. After the play you see Chung and Chandler Jones whooping it up in the sideline.

There was lots more but the overall impression I got was how fast these NFL guys cover the field. One second you think a guy is open and then bang he's tackled. The All 22 is really pretty eye opening.

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This is something I hope more fans grasp from the take of those who view it. It debunks the ever present contentions that so and so was wide open (on TV before Brady made his throw) and Brady clearly missed him. Brady watches these films constantly so before he plays he knows how quickly a defender can close and makes his decisions on who is open or how open they truly are accordingly.

Wow. What power. I know a bigger, stronger man can get pushed around if he's not balanced or if his pad level is higher, so it doesn't mean that Hightower is stronger than an NFL tackle. But still...very impressive. Just pushed him right into the quarterback.

...and lastly, my favorite play though I hope he doesn't have to do that too often, but Gostkowski took out a Titan's returner with a massive shoulder to shoulder hit. The kicker can run as well. After the play you see Chung and Chandler Jones whooping it up in the sideline.

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I loved that play, and the Pats sideline was giving Ghost some major props after that one. Ghost, though, was also likely cautioned NOT to do that too often, I suspect.

On the Washington TD, Chandler Jones actually had Locker by the waist and legs as he was throwing the ball. It seemed like Gregory could have been gambling on a possible floater type pass that he could intercept. Instead Locker actually made quite a throw with Jones all over him and him not being able to stride forward as he was making the pass.

On the runs that were for minus yardage, it seemed like a majority of those came on sweep type plays to the left or right. Not that it was all bad, because Ridley had some big gains on plays like that too when he was able make aggressive cut backs. The north south type running plays on the whole however looked real good. If there were any minus yard runs on those types of plays, there must have been few because I don't recall seeing one.

On Pass plays, seems like much of the credit for being sacked just once was the fact that Brady got rid of the ball very quickly. On plays that needed to develop (say greater than 3+ seconds), that pocket did collapse very fast. On those plays it was fairly clear that Brady would not have had the chance to take that step forward before a pass because there were people all around him. So that's a bit of a concern there and needs to be worked on.

On the Washington TD, Chandler Jones actually had Locker by the waist and legs as he was throwing the ball. It seemed like Gregory could have been gambling on a possible floater type pass that he could intercept. Instead Locker actually made quite a throw with Jones all over him and him not being able to stride forward as he was making the pass.

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livinginthe past said:

On the Locker TD, I think Gregory gambled on an INT - he seen Locker about to be engulfed, and like most of us, thought there was a good chance a wounded duck might be on the way.

.....On the runs that were for minus yardage, it seemed like a majority of those came on sweep type plays to the left or right. Not that it was all bad, because Ridley had some big gains on plays like that too when he was able make aggressive cut backs. The north south type running plays on the whole however looked real good. If there were any minus yard runs on those types of plays, there must have been few because I don't recall seeing one.

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hmmmm.

one of the articles linked on the front page (john morgan ) stated the exact opposite. That the no yardage plays were run up through the line and the blocking was the problem. he said all the positive plays were on sweeps (or at least when following a TE).

The Pats do indeed have a running game. Stevan Ridley showed a lot of burst and decisiveness. But letâ€™s pump the brakes just a bit here. Ridley was quite effective running outside, following his tight endâ€™s lead â€“ but he and the other backs got absolutely nowhere when running between the tackles. On those plays it seemed as if it was at most a gain of one or two yards. The issue did not appear to be Ridley, but the members of the offensive line; on interior runs they continually failed to seal their defenders, leaving the running back with no lane to run through and no place to cut back to.

one of the articles linked on the front page (john morgan ) stated the exact opposite. That the no yardage plays were run up through the line and the blocking was the problem. he said all the positive plays were on sweeps (or at least when following a TE).

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I would say it was more like the north south plays didn't have any minus yard type plays but didn't have lots of big ones either. The "sweep" type plays had big gains but also 3 or 4 yard losses in there.

In effect, you had consistent but not spectacular runs on north south and you had more of a feast or famine in runs to the left or right.

Apologies incidentally for the lack of football terminology. I'm not very well versed in that language unfortunately.

I just watched the incomplete deep pass to Lloyd again with the coaches film, and it definitely looks like that was on Lloyd. Brady made a throw that LLoyd should have been able to run underneath easily as it hit him in stride. Instead, it looked like he panicked and tried to make an unnecessary adjustment. Though to be fair, he has probably had to make many adjustments in the past with the other quarterbacks he's played with.